Greetings Yachties,

Nice footage and a few stories from:

TP52 Practise Race.

La Solitaire.

Artemis at Cowes Week.

Speed Worlds.

Da-Woody.

BillyT James.

DesTop TV.

Alinghi and more.

Enjoy

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Sail TV Offers LIVE Coverage

of the 2009 Audi MedCup via Virtual Eye Graphics and Commentary –

Wednesday August 19th to the 23rd

Most will agree that sailing is an expensive and difficult sport to cover. And for the general public it can be even harder to follow. That’s why even to the aficionados of the sport, Virtual Eye makes a massive difference to the quality of the TV experience and some may even argue that it’s better than the actual broadcast.

Make your own mind up – www.sail.tv is showing every race live over the next five days in association with Virtual Eye.

While you are on our website check out Sail TV’s production of Mirror World’s held in Pwllheli Wales, you will find all the coverage under EVENTS, close the ad window to find clip you want. A must see is Alinghi’s catamaran in “flight”, featured in our TOP PICKS.  Also in last week under our NEWS channel, coverage of the Mark Foy Trophy, La Solitaire du Figaro and the winners of the Rolex Fastnet Race.

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Brokerage Sales Off 20 Percent – But Big Boats See Lift

For three consecutive months, United States brokerage sailboat sales have been steady at 500+ boats and roughly $40 million value, based on figures reported by broker members of YachtWorld.com. Averaged against the same three months in 2008, which were anything but steady, unit sales are down approximately 20 percent and the valuation of boats sold is down about 25 percent.

At the end of June we reported that, compared to the same month last year, unit sales were down only 12 percent and the value of sailboat brokerage sales was only down by 8 percent. That appears to have been an anomaly because of the dip in sales registered in June ’08, perhaps as a result of the timing of sales in adjacent months. Compared with July ’08, unit sales in July ’09 were down by 23% and the value of boats sold was down by 21%.

Nonetheless, while the market remains weaker than in 2008, it has shown some improvement. Earlier in 2009, unit sales were down closer to 30 percent and boat valuation was off by more than 40 percent.

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more La Solitaire here

Map of the race here click to see where they are now.

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more images here

TP52 – Audi MedCup – Portimao

Paul Cayard
Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Today was a much better day in terms of wind. There were 7-11 knots from the southwest. We left the dock on time at 1100 and went through our normal routine of tuning up with Matador before the start which was on time at 1300. As it is the practice race today, meaning that the race committee runs two starts and then on the third start, we continue on and race.

We had a good start but went left, kind of forced that way by Team New Zealand who had us pinned on starboard. The right was good and we were 7th or 8th at the top mark. We got the right coming out of the leeward mark after the run but by then the wind went left so we were wrong again.

We also did not seem very fast upwind and we had been trying some different set ups.

Down the final run we passed one or two boats and finished 7th. Not a great day results wise but it did not count either. Quantum, who hit the right hard on the first windward leg, won the practice race.

After the race we re-tuned our rig and then tested with Matador for about 40 minutes. We seemed to have improved our performance and we were fairly even with Matador.

Working with Matador each morning before the start has been really good for both of us.

Tomorrow’s forecast is for winds similar to what we had today. Start time is 1300 and we could have as many as three races.

Paul

Bouncing back

Slightly modified expectations, a more relaxed attitude and sheer hard work may have combined to form a catalyst for Audi MedCup champions Quantum Racing to bounce back after their disappointing seventh place finish last month in Cagliari, Sardinia.

The 2009 Circuit winning team are back on the Atlantic waters where last season they clinched the overall title and on the evidence of today’s practise race, which they won handily, nearly one minute ahead of Circuit leaders Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), they should not be written off.

Racing in an unsettled and challenging light breeze of 7-10 knots, Quantum Racing (USA) started smartly off the committee boat end of the start line which allowed them to break early to the right side of the track and gain the benefit as the wind clocked slightly to the right. The black and green hulled Botin Carkeek design lead away at the first windward turn, nine seconds up on Italy’s Audi Q8. A good first run from Emirates Team New Zealand elevated them to second which they held to the finish.

Aboard Spain’s Bribon, Britain’s double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson, guested for today on the helm, combining with fellow double medallists Thierry Pepponnet (FRA) and Ross McDonald (CAN), to take fourth place.
Robertson, who is no stranger to TP52’s after steering Eamon Conneely’s Copa del Rey winning Patches in the formative seasons of that programme, is visiting the Audi MedCup Circuit in her role as presenter of CNN’s Mainsail programme, coolly completed interviews and commentary as she steered Bribon around the course.

Emirates Team New Zealand’s second place today once more underlined their potency in the light to moderate conditions after working the left side of the course upwind on the first leg, they proved quick enough in the modest breezes. Tactician Ray Davies (NZL) repeated today that their strategy this week will be simply to ‘survive this regatta in good shape’ and to ‘keep our high averages up.’ The Kiwi team lead overall Audi MedCup Circuit TP52 Series by 32.5 points.

Portugal Trophy, TP52 Series, Practise Race.
1 Quantum Racing (USA)
2 Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL)
3 Matador (ARG)
4 Bribon (ESP)
5 Synergy (RUS)

Audi MedCup Circuit 2009
Overall (3 events)

TP52 Series
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), 38+27,5+28= 93,5 points
2. Matador (ARG), 36+47,5+42,5= 126 points
3. Quantum Racing (USA), 40+41,5+65= 146,5 points
4. Artemis (SWE), 37+62,5+49,5= 149 points
5. Bigamist (POR), 46+55,5+57= 158,5 points
…

GP42 Series
1. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), 20+23+23= 66 points
2. Roma (ITA), 22+17+30= 69 points
3. Caser-Endesa (ESP), 33+27+26= 86 points
4. Airis (ITA), 21+38+28= 87 points
5. Turismo Madrid (ESP), 35+35+43= 113 points

Complete results: here

Quotes of the day:

Quantum Racing’s tactician Morgan Larson (USA):
“ It was nice that we had enough wind to sail. We executed our start…finally, but it was good to get things ‘clicking’ again. There is definitely a more relaxed atmosphere on board. I think our expectations have changed a little, so the attitude has changed. On the flip side we had a tough regatta last time. You want to work on the things which were not clicking in Sardinia, but things are the same as last year and so you really don’t want to change too much. So, we kind of took the view that we would work a little bit harder and push a little bit harder, but keep the same system that we have had in place.”
“ I think we were plagued there by a little bit of misfortune and the key guys on the boat were a little off their game last time, myself included. But it is a long summer with so many different events, that is tough – week in week out – to stay motivated and keep that hunger. I feel good now because the energy on the boat is good, so we are happier.”

Ray Davies (NZL) tactician Emirates Team New Zealand:
“ It was difficult light airs conditions again. We were back in fourth or fifth at the top mark but sneaked into a third at the windward mark. The breeze was just going right for the first half of the race. The second beat was different, more steady.”
“ I remember that here the onshore breezes are very unstable and it wont necessarily be a one way track. There is interesting tide out there which changes a lot and so it is difficult to get your head around it. And the sea breeze is not as consistent as a Valencia-type sea breeze. It was always dying and often felt quite soft. Under 8 knots it is just naturally unstable.”
“ We are OK in the lighter stuff when we have a nice clear lane and can do what we want. You notice the differences when you are really trying to hold a tough lane. We are very comfortable in a tough lane above 12 knots. The thing with light air is that the breeze is a much bigger factor than any performance, I don’t think we are the fastest boat out there, but we can certainly still win races in light airs.”

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more Fastnet here

This post is tagged audi med cup, da-woody, e-scow, Morgan Lason, ray davies, Sail TV, victorious